‘Exit West’ by Mohsin Hamid

This is an inventive and elegant love story set in the middle of an unnamed war zone. The author, who is best known for his book and subsequent movie The Reluctant Fundamentalist, has a strangely compelling writing style and a fanciful premise for this story which I will not mention since it is best discovered while reading. (Hint: think about something in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) Saeed and Nadia meet when their country is at the brink of civil war. Eventually their only option is to escape to an alien and uncertain future. Can their relationship weather such a huge transition? Issues such as the plight of refugees and migrants, as well as the anger of nativist extremists are all well portrayed, making this slim novel extremely current.

To be honest I loved the creativity of the first half of the book, but found it became a bit flat and less strong in the latter half. Nevertheless, I’m glad I read it for its quietly profound quality, its perspective on emigration, and because it covers the kind of events that are happening right now.